How important is it to have your own comic webpage?

[oystersalsa]

I've heard that for a webcomic to be taken seriously by would-be publishers or by people looking at your portfolio, it should have a dedicated web page and domain. You can mirror on social sites like Tapastic/ Line, but it just seems more professional to have your own page (or so I've heard) if you're planning to really take the comic seriously. Not everyone can do this though, you'd have to pay for hosting not to mention building the site. Thoughts?

[marygold]

I think having your own website is a great advantage, but not necessarily necessary (haha). A lot of successful artists here don't have their own websites but are simply known through several sites (tapastic, da, tumblr) and have a patreon, or use a website where they sell merchandise (King's Folly is a good example). I think (my opinion may be wrong, I am a novice comic artist) a personal website can wait until the comic's popularity rises sufficiently.

[Shanny8]

Trying to create my own site over this summer. Def is pertinent to my brand- aside from this webcomic, I have a print book that I've been working on as well...also have other stories that I want to tell down the road, and they all wont fit on Tapastic.

[carloswebcomic]

Well, I guess that having your own hosting, as opposed to Tapastic or Smack Jeeves, shows how serious and dedicated you're about the whole thing.
Frankly it's more psychological than practical, but you know, first impressions count I guess.

[shaneoid77]

It's a good job I'm not interested in going pro then haha. I prefer uploading to Tapastic because they've really worked at allowing people to read webcomics easier with a perfect scroll system plus you can have all your fave comics on one app, rather than go through multiple websites. Plus (plus) being taken seriously is overrated

[Kayke]

I've specifically had readers tell me they don't like reading comics on sites like Tapastic and would rather bookmark a separate website, but I still get more readers on Tapastic, so I don't think it's TOO important.

I personally like having my own site to direct people to since I do comics professionally. It's nice to link art directors to CreepComic.com rather than my tapastic page or tumblr, ya know?

[Michelle]

A personal website does look more professional and is more accessible if you're showing your work to potential clients, or want to get a publisher.

Personally, I like having my comic on its own website because you never know when a hosting site is gonna change its rules, disappear completely, or just turn crappy in general.

[ToonDoctor]

The personal website is mostly to protect you and give options should one of the comic host changes, shuts down and so on. Understand that they are more difficult to maintain and to draw readers to. But, if Tapastic et al. change their rules over night, start charging you a fee, or what ever, you have your own voice that you totally control on the Web. I suggest to all cartoonists to always have their own independent websites.

[sarrowsmith10]

I think having your own website is a great advantage, but not necessarily necessary (haha). A lot of successful artists here don't have their own websites but are simply known through several sites (tapastic, da, tumblr) and have a patreon, or use a website where they sell merchandise (King's Folly is a good example). I think (my opinion may be wrong, I am a novice comic artist) a personal website can wait until the comic's popularity rises sufficiently.

This ^^^^ so true.

I used to have my own independent site, but maintaining it was a huge pain. I always redirect clients to my facebook page, where its easy to look through an album of art and its got links to all the places where my comic is hosted/mirrored.

I've never had a problem getting published or finding clients, even though I don't have a site. I think its really up to the individual and who you are targeting for work.

Quite honestly if you are asking publishers to accept your work, you should be sending them the work directly (like a printed portfolio, ebook, or digital file). I guarantee no editor wants to click through a bunch of links or go looking for your art.

So, in my opinion, its up to the individual artist and how you want to market yourself.

[Michelle]

Quite honestly if you are asking publishers to accept your work, you should be sending them the work directly (like a printed portfolio, ebook, or digital file). I guarantee no editor wants to click through a bunch of links or go looking for your art.

True for physical comic publishers, though online publishers like Hiveworks require you to have your own site.

[alaingrey]

For me, I don't have my own webpage because:

1. I just don't want to take away drawing time and make it site maintenance time. It's not a big priority of mine. I also have no web design skills whatsoever, and I think an ugly site would actually be a detriment, not an attraction.
2. Since I don't have a large internet following, it would be hard for me to draw a lot of traffic to my site. Thus, the site wouldn't really be paying for itself through ad rev, because probably no one would be looking at it ever.
3. My comics don't even look that good online, nor were they ever made with the intention of being online. It's just a convenient way to share them at the moment.
4. My comic is too niche and weird for big collectives like Hiveworks that require a site. In addition, that's not a goal I have for my comic.

I'm sure a lot of other people feel sort of similarly, and that's why they have Tapstic or Tumblr hosted comics (or any other site, I just notice those two being trendy right now) In fact, my last comic was tumblr hosted. I just think this one is a little bit more 'mushy' and I like the easy editability of the Tapastic episode, so I can rearrange pages and panic much easier than other hosting systems.

[sarrowsmith10]

Yah, I guess I didn't think about places like Hiveworks. Good point.

[heterodont]

Even then, hiveworks requires you to send a pdf if you're trying to apply! They provide the website/hosting too if you don't already have one iirc.

[Michelle]

Oh, very true. I forgot they help you build a website if you don't have one already. D: Though I don't know if the same goes for other webcomic publishers/collectives.

[heterodont]

I'm pretty sure SpiderForest, another collective, offers free hosting for accepted comics - at least according to their FAQ. Though as you also said, I'm not too certain about other webcomic publishers/collectives beyond those two ^^;